Transformational Leadership

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Recommended: Leadership development for the military

Military officer training has always placed tremendous value in leadership development. The goal is to build transformation leaders. “Transformational leadership promotes positive and meaningful changes in people, teams, organizations, nations, and societies.” These leaders articulate a vision, company values, challenge the old way of doing things, and encourage continuous improvement.
The discussions of transformational leadership in the Air Force often leads to Brigadier General William "Billy" Mitchell, United States Army. General Mitchell was one of the most controversial and outspoken proponents of aviation during post war period of the 1920s-1930s. He was an Army soldier/airman and an inspiring leader. He experienced an awakening as he led Army Air Forces in Europe in World War I (WWI). “He saw beyond the limitations of the crude aircraft of the day and recognized the airplane's potential to transform warfare completely. In addition, he was determined to awaken his nation to its need for air power.” However, he had a rebellious personality that clashed with Army and national leadership. Between the end of WWI and his death in 1936, General Mitchell persisted in the attempt to convince military and civilian leaders about the importance of aviation and potential dominant role in future wars.
Mitchell was a tactical soldier and airman who desired all military aviation under one separate and equal service, reporting to a cabinet department of aeronautics responsible for civil and military air forces. At the same time, he worked within the Air Corps to develop its doctrine, training, and operational competence for present and future conflicts. General Mitchel influenced a generation of leaders in airpower with technical expert...

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...sacrifice career for the greater development of the Air Corps, demonstrates the reason today’s airmen, military officers, and government leaders owe him a debt of gratitude.

Works Cited

John J. Sosik and Don I. Jung, Full Range Leadership Development: Pathways for People, Profit, and Plant (New York: Psychology Press, 2010), 14.
William D. O’Neil, “Transformation” (Annapolis: US Naval Institute, 2002), 1.
Ibid., 2.
Giulio Douhet, The Command of the Air (Washington: Air Force History and Museums Program, 1998), 30.
Alfred F. Hurley, Billy Mitchell: Crusader for Air Power (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1975), 61.
Edgar H. Schein, Organizational Culture and Leadership 4th Edition (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010), 291.
Alfred F. Hurley, Billy Mitchell: Crusader for Air Power, 69.
Edgar H. Schein, Organizational Culture and Leadership, 293.

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